Smile From Your Heart
by Sunshine-hime
Summary: Haru and Rei's relationship changes and stays the same. And together they find out what they really want.


**So it's been a while since I lasted updated. Life caught up to me so I had to take a little break. I think after the next prompt I'll be done with the challenge, since I'd have pretty much written everything I wanted to within this series.**

**In this one Haru and Rei are about 24, so a few years after "Take the Lead and I Will Follow."**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon Universe: Applimon and make no profit from this work.**

* * *

"You sure about this? About _me_?"

Haru makes a show of thinking on it, finger resting on his chin and a long, exaggerated hum. Rei rolls his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Dumb question, I get it."

They're sitting in Haru's room - soon to be his former room if all goes well. But getting to the point of asking Rei if he could move in with him and Hajime would have to wait until they clear this first hurdle.

Haru knows Rei is mostly being sarcastic. But there's a slight iciness underneath it and he knows it's a cover for a little hurt. So he faces Rei and holds their hands together. "It's not dumb at all, sorry. I just wanted to cheer you up a bit. Make you realize that I'm not going anywhere."

Rei squeezes Haru hands, chewing on his lower lip. It takes over a minute to spit out his reply and when it does come, it's quiet and raspy. "Two years from now. I don't, I don't want you to regret this."

"Two years from now?"

Rei flushes but nods. "Most people have, certain _needs_. And I can't help you with that. So I," and he shakes his head. "It'll happen eventually. In two, maybe three years. You won't be able to deal with that anymore. So you'll leave."

That sentence hangs in the air, like a guillotine, and Haru is frozen. He thinks of those words as they echo in his head and then stares back at Rei. Rei who is looking away, jaw clenching.

Haru thinks about what to say next, knowing that Rei is in a delicate state. So he decides to tackle it this way instead.

"Rei, how long have we known each other?"

Apparently that was not the question Rei was expecting and his head jerks back to face Haru, who waits patiently for the answer. Rei blinks. "About ten years in a month, right?"

"Wait, it's been ten years _already_?"

Rei snorts, his nose scrunching up in that ridiculous way Haru always found adorable. "You asked me that not knowing the answer?"

Haru flushes in response and Rei snorts again. "I-I mean I knew it was a long time but still. Ten years. That's a long time of being friends, yeah?"

"Yeah, you're right. That is a long time."

"See! And think about it." And Haru turns his whole body to face him, the mattress squeaking in protest as he grasps both of Rei's hands in his own. Rei feels his face heat up again but enjoys the warmth from his hands regardless. "All this time, we've been friends. And we were enough for each other then. So what's so different about now?"

Rei pulls back his hands and leans forward, burying his face in them.

But Haru catches his tiny smile and decides to keep feeding the sudden silly atmosphere by flopping on top of Rei's back. "Whaaaaat?"

Rei shakes his head. "_Haru_. That makes absolutely no sense," his voice muffled by his hands.

Haru tugs at Rei's ponytail. It's gotten pretty long, trailing past his shoulder blades and a few inches away from the middle of his back. "Just like what you said before makes no sense. Why two years specifically?"

He sits up slowly, giving Haru ample time to sit up himself, and sighs before crossing his arms. "Fair. But still, this is different. I-" He pauses for a moment, and his face sets. "I'll be blunt Haru. I won't have sex with you and I don't even think I can manage kissing right now."

Rei thought he could take saying that with a straight face, but as soon as Haru's face explodes in a deep red, he feels the heat flush on his own. He takes a deep breath to calm himself (ignoring Haru struggling to maintain eye contact) and waits until his face cools down a little before he continues. "Can you be with someone like that? Truthfully?"

"Yep."

"You're supposed to give it more thought than that."

Haru has the nerve to just stare back at him, as if his cheeks didn't look like two ripe tomatoes a minute ago, before shaking his head. "I already told you, you've always been enough for me. You Rei. Not what you can give me. _You_."

Rei swallows and uncrosses his arms, and they rest in his lap. His eyes seem to be searching for something and Haru realizes how vulnerable they look. "Is that, is that really true?"

Even after all this time, Haru is still blown away by how much trust Rei has in him, how much of his heart he's willing to risk. But he knows what to say now and his heart is ready to burst because it is the truth. "It's been that way for ten years," and his voice lightly laughs. "So why not at least ten more years?"

Rei stares for a moment, unmoving, before a smile slowly forms on his lips. It's small but soft and fills his eyes with affection. "Haru. Thank you." He reaches for Haru's hand and intertwines their fingers together.

Haru nearly melts. Another ten years would be a piece of cake.

* * *

**They go to Astra for advice and he ends up teaching them about QPRs (after like an hour of frantic searches on his smartphone).**

**So this the first time I ever wrote a queerplatonic relationship, or at least the start of one. It was fun, especially trying to write it with two people who don't really the term but know what they want out of a relationship.**

**I would love to revisit this concept again, either with Applimon or in another fandom.**


End file.
